How to Do Thanksgivukkah (a Little) Healthier

Spatchcocked Turkey, NOT Deep-Fried

The novelty of deep-fried turkey wears off with your first bite of overcooked breast meat or grease-sogged leg. In terms of precision cooking, theres no better way to ensure an evenly roasted bird  moist breast meat, juicy leg meat, and crisp, browned skin  than spatchcocking. Plus, its just a really fun word to say: spatchcock. Theres no heavy lifting required. You simply remove the turkeys backbone with sturdy kitchen shears, lay it flat on a roasting pan, and let your oven do its thing.

The Food Lab at Serious Eats has a step-by-step spatchcocking tutorial.